Twentytwo13

Selangor should stop lame boast of calling JDT rivals

So it’s been claimed many times by the management and various fans with stern faces within Selangor FA that their club is a rival to the dominant Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).

I think we are supposed to be surprised by this.

JDT, chasing its seventh league title in a row, stitched together a line-up last Saturday that convincingly thrashed Selangor 6-1.

The Southern Tigers have won six out of seven meetings between the teams dating back to 2018. And it doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon either, especially when on the following day (Sunday), Selangor II was equally thrashed by JDT II with the same scoreline.

Rivals? Come on.

Perhaps that is a reference Selangor should shelve for a while. The Red Giants have been outscored by JDT by a margin of 14 goals in their seven meetings over the past two years.

That’s not a rivalry, that’s giving up your lunch money without the bully having to ask.

Many local football observers have been harping about the need to measure oneself financially. To identify the club’s true financial capabilities and to only spend within those means; to not blindly emulate the spending behaviours of winning clubs like JDT, as it may lead to financial disarray.

This is such good advice, so much so it begs the question – should the need to reflect on oneself (or club) proportionately extend beyond the financial standpoint?

Should we also measure ourselves on the pitch accordingly and avoid placing unnecessary stress on the coaches and leave a false impression on the fans?

Motivational gurus, I know, would have some issues with this sort of thing, and so would various marketers.

Of course, they would argue that a surmountable amount of stress is necessary for progress. But then, the very thing is, there is a very fine line that may position the campaign into an oversell.

And overselling is equally as silly and reckless as spending more than what you can actually afford.

Overselling would have an immediate impact where throngs of people would end up signing as fans. And I get that.

Like in any business, it is imperative to gain a significant amount of market share.

But imagine what it would be like believing in Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ leadership battlecry and then realising that whatever comes out of his mouth later, is as good as what comes out of his bottom. I’d be livid as hell.

Overselling is not sustainable. It gives the fans a false sense of hope.

And in the case of Selangor and JDT, hope has done nothing but prolong the agony.

It is essential that we acknowledge the power of trust in marketing. Be fair in your measure.

Unsubstantiated claims, boasting about your club being better and special, unnecessary hype, exaggerated and false claims about the club or the players or the head coach, repetition, information overload, lack of ethics, lack of empathy towards fans and lack of interest in the fans can all be considered overselling components that can kill your institution.

People are more likely to keep buying and remain loyal towards institutions they trust and that show morals, ethics, and good governance.

And yes, winning alone doesn’t do the job. Such trust gets built in time, and through a simple principle – honesty.

But then, all of a sudden, Selangor sacks its coach B.Sathianathan. I think it’s absurd.

Because what this dismissal means, is that Selangor FA believes it is a tremendous team and is a genuine rival of JDT.

And it seems the only reason Selangor FA believes it was made to look idiotic in the match against their ‘rival’ is simply because they had the “wrong coach”. LOL!

This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.